Ron's Candid Comments on the Victoria Real Estate Market for February 2017

Ron Neal's Candid Victoria Real Estate Market Update for February 2017

The weather may be cold but our Victoria real estate market remains hot! Although the number of sales reported in January 2017 was down 11% from the previous year, it’s only due to the lack of available listings! Ready, willing and able buyers are plentiful, as are competing bids which continue to pressure prices upwards.

To put some perspective on this imbalance and undersupply, we have just over 1,300 licensed Realtors in Victoria. That exceeds the current number of residential listings which is currently less than 1,100 for sale in the entire Victoria Real Estate Board (total of 1,516 reported at end of January includes vacant lots and commercial including leases and businesses for sale). Furthermore, there were a total of 478 total sales in January or about one for every three Victoria Realtors.

Despite the challenges presented by the low inventory, I’m pleased to report that The Neal Estate Team increased our sales in January by 70% over January 2016! Our amazing team members sold more than 5X as many last month as the average Victoria Realtor! This is the result of implementing significant strategies to give our buying clients the upper hand in competing situations, including identifying off market listings, overlooked opportunities and strategic negotiating advantages to often win without the highest price offered. For Sellers we’re compressing our maximum market exposure timing, creating rapid maximum interest and competitive bidding for the best possible outcomes. You may recall my blog from April 2015, long before the market turned super hot with biddng wars becoming commonplace in which I reported that "to get more you need to ask less". Our marketing has evolved now to highly compress our marketing efforts gaining massive attention and interest very quickly, creating competition for our listings and best outcomes for our sellers. Check this one in process "right now" at the time of writing this for example.

The speculation over whether a foreign buyer tax will be implemented in Victoria is a hot topic. Apprehension over this is diminishing with the government’s recent announcement to relax the tax for those with work permits who are paying Canadian income tax. Our team has experienced a sharp increase over the past two quarters in the proportion of our buyers who are relocating from the USA, both investors and lifestyle seekers. The TRUMP effect? Many are referred to us by American real estate colleagues and more than 1,100 (7.36%) of our visitors to RonNeal.com in January came from the USA. A steady pipeline right now but the implementation of that tax would instantly put a damper on that as it did in Metro Vancouver.

Questions about the market? Your home’s value? Timing? Investment strategies to assure double digit returns on your capital? How to sell and buy without risking homelessness? Please contact The Neal Estate Team at 250.386.8181, Victoria’s Real Estate Experts, for your FREE and no obligation personal real estate consultation.

Ron Neal & The Neal Estate Team

Victoria’s Real Estate Experts

“Go with those who know”